Bioniedl. 
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100 

J138C 

1872 


A  DISCOURSE 


COMMEMORATIVE  OF  THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


SAMUEL  JACKSON,  M.D., 


LATE  PROFESSOR  OP  THE  INSTITUTES  OF  MEDICINE 


UNIYERSITY  OF  PE^NSYLVAIsIA. 


BY 

JOSEPH  CARSON,  M.D., 

PROFESSOR  OP  MATERIA  MEDICA  AND  PHARMACY. 


nJEI^irXHtJED  OCTOBEJt  7,  1S72, 


BEFORE  THE 


TRUSTEES,  PEOFESSOES,  AND  STUDENTS  OF  THE  USITEESIIY  OF  PESSSILYAAIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLINS,  PRINTER,  705  JAYNE   STREET. 

1872. 

THE  LIBRARY 

T71VTVRRRTTV   OF   rATTFOWNTA 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Medical  Class  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  held  Oct. 
12th,  1872,  for  the  purpose  of  requesting  a  copy  of  Prof.  Joseph  Carson's  Intro- 
ductory Lecture,  Mr.  Charles  K.  I.  Miller,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  called  to  the  Chair, 
and  Mr.  AVm.  H.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  appointed  Secretary. 

On  motion  it  was 

Resolved,  That  committees  be  appointed  to  carry  out  the  intention  of  the  Class. 

University  of  Pennsylvania, 

Philadelphia,  Oct.  14,  1872. 
Joseph  Carson,  M.D.,  Prof,  of  Materia  Medica,  University  of  Fenna. 

Dear  Sir  :  At  a  meeting  of  the  Medical  Class,  held  on  the  12th  inst.,  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen  were  appointed  a  committee  to  solicit  for  publication  a  copy  of  your 
address,  delivered  as  an  introductory  to  the  one  hundred  and  seventh  course  of 
lectures,  in  eulogy  of  the  late  Prof  Samuel  Jackson,  of  this  school. 

Enrique  M.  Estrazulas,  Uruguay,  South  America. 

John  G.  Schenck,  New  Jersey. 

Juan  Guiteras,  Cuba. 

Edward  T.  Bruen,  Pennsylvania. 

Frank  C.  Hand,  Pennsylvania. 


University  of  Pennsylvania, 

Philadelphia,  Oct.  15th,  1872. 
To  Messrs.  Estrazulas,  Schenck,  Guiteras,  Bruen,  and  Hand,  Committee  of 
Medical  Class. 
Gentlemen  :  I  accede  with  pleasure  to  the  request  of  the  Medical   Class,  ex- 
pressed through  you,  that  the   Eulogy  of  the  late  Professor  Jackson,  delivered  at 
the  opening  of  the  Session,  should  be  published  under  its  auspices. 

Be  pleased  to  convey  to  the  Class  my  apprecintion  of  the  feeling  expressed  by  the 
request,  and  the  assurance  of  my  deep  interest  in  your  welfare  and  that  of  your 
fellow  students. 

Very  sincerely  your 

obedient  servant, 

J.  CARSON. 


Committee  on  Publication. 

Guilherme  Ellis,  S.  Paulo,  Brazil,  S.  A.       Reuben  W.  Gulledge,  Miss. 

Cyrus  A.  Loose,  Pennsylvania. 

James  S.  Everton,  Pennsylvania. 

Chas.  p.  Britton,  New  Jersey. 

Frank  Houskeeper,  Pennsylvania. 

H.  Turner  Bass,  N.  C. 

John  S.  Bagg,  Massachusetts. 

Wm.  a.  Bell,  Virginia. 

Emile  S.  Bonwill,  Delaware. 

Westwood  J.  Baker,  Alabama. 

Herbert  R.  Carter,  N.  B. 

John  M.  Steele,  Md. 

Chas.  C.  Matteson,  111. 

Henry  Essig,  Mo. 

William  Gamble,  Conn. 

Wm.  p.  D.  Giltner,  Oregon. 

Brady  0.  Williams,  W.  Virg. 

WM.  H.  rush. 

Secretary. 


Ltcortas  B.  Hall,  Vermont. 
Edward  J.  Hallum,  Texas. 
Joseph  C.  Hunter,  Iowa. 
Francis  J.  Rogers,  R.  I. 
Wm.  T.  Wythe,  Cal. 
Herman  N.  Loeb,  Chili,  S.  A. 
George  H.  Lamson,  France. 
Walter  H.  Lewis,  Ind. 
Richard  T.  Metcalfe,  Nova  Scotia. 
Kenkiche  R.  Mayeda,  Japan. 
Abr.  a.  McDonald,  Minn. 
Robert  Pillow,  Tenn. 
V.  Gonzales  Salinas,  Mexico. 
TiiADDEUs  F.  Truman,  N.  Y. 
James  F.  AVatson,  Ky. 
Edward  Jeckell,  England. 

CHAS.  K.  I.  MILLER, 

Cliairman. 


100 

A  DISCOUESE. 


A  FAITHFUL  record  of  the  lives  of  men  who  have  borne  a 
prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  who  have  been 
remarkable  not  only  for  their  eminence  in  professional  pursuits, 
but  for  the  length  of  time  that  they  have  been  engaged  in 
them,  is  of  twofold  interest. 

Such  a  record  not  only  exhibits  to  us  the  steps  by  which 
individual  success  and  reputation  have  been  attained ;  but  it 
is  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  times  through  which 
they  passed.  It  entails  a  narrative  of  events  of  general  con- 
cern, of  changes  which  have  exercised  an  important  influence 
upon  the  progress  of  mankind,  and  of  improvements  and  dis- 
coveries which  have  contributed  to  the  expansion  and  per- 
fection of  positive  knowledge.  From  these  alone,  when  esti- 
mated in  their  fulness,  the  evidence  can  be  drawn  of  the 
advances  made  by  generation  upon  generation  in  the  march  of 
science  and  of  civilization. 

It  will  be  the  purpose  of  the  present  effort  to  thus  sketch 
the  life  of  the  eminent  physician  and  teacher,  who,  for  so  long 
a  period,  was  conspicuous  before  his  fellow-men  as  a  promoter 
of  professional  advancement,  and  who  was  especially  distin- 
guished as  an  ornament  and  sustainer  of  this  school  of  medi- 
cine. 

Dr.  Samuel  Jackson  was  born  in  the  cit}'-  of  Philadelphia, 
on  March  22d,  1787.  He  was  the  son  of  Dr.  David  Jackson 
of  Chester  County,  Penna.,  who  was  one  of  the  first  class  of 
graduates  on  whom  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  \vas 
conferred  by  the  College  of  Philadelphia  in  1768,  and  subse- 
quently a  Trustee  of  the  Institution.  His  mother  Avas  Susan 
Kemper,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  Kemper,  who  came  to  this 
country  from  Germany  in  1741,  and  settled  in  New  Jersey. 


This  lady  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years ;  indeed 
longevity  seems  to  have  been  incident  to  the  descent,  as  her 
father  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years,  and  her  son  to 
that  of  eighty-five.^  She  was  remarkable  for  her  powers  of 
conversation,  a  trait  that,  in  an  eminent  degree,  was  inherited 
by  her  son. 

Dr.  Jackson  acquired  his  classical  education  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  institution  that  had  succeeded  the  College, 
but  he  does  not  appear  to  have  taken  any  literary  degrees. 
He  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  James  Hutchin- 
son, Jr.,  but  this  gentleman,  who  was  remarkable  for  his  me- 
chanical ingenuity,  dying  shortly  after  the  connection  com- 
menced, he  was  transferred  to  the  office  of  Professor  Wistar, 
with  whom  he  completed  his  studies.  He  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  University,  in  1808. 
His  Thesis  was  "  Suspended  Animation." 

After  his  graduation  Dr.  Jackson  did  not  enter  upon  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  His  father  had  been  engaged  in 
the  business  of  a  druggist  and  pharmaceutist,  and,  having  died 
in  1801,  its  continuance  devolved  on  his  eldest  son.  Upon 
the  death  of  this  brother  in  1809,  Dr.  Jackson  continued  the 
business,  rendered  necessary  from  the  dependent  state  of  the 
family.  The  details  of  trade,  however,  were  never  conge- 
nial to  the  tastes  of  our  late  professor;  he  was  clearly  un- 
adapted  to  such  pursuits,  and  his  aspirations  took  a  higher 
flight.  He  was  not  in  the  least  endowed  with  the  mercantile 
spirit,  and  was  little  fitted  to  push  his  fortunes  in  a  remune- 
rative field,  whence  others  have  drawn  wealth  and  independ- 
ence. As  soon  as  he  could  do  so  he  abandoned  the  occupation 
of  a  pharmaceutist,  and  became  a  candidate  for  practice  and 
reputation  in  his  legitimate  profession.  To  his  credit  it  may 
be  stated,  that  when  he  retired  from  business,  being  deeply  in- 
volved   pecuniarily,  he  regarded  all  his  obligations  .with   a 

1  The  longeyity  of  this  family  is  remarkable.  Jacob  Kemper  died  at  the 
age  of  87  years;  Mrs.  Morton,  his  daughter,  at  93  years;  Col.  Dauiel 
Kemper,  his  son,  at  98  years  ;  Mrs.  Jackson,  his  daughter,  at  88 ;  Bishop 
Kemper,  his  grandson,  at  81  years  ;  Mrs.  Quiucey,  his  granddaughter,  at 
77  years,  and  Samuel  Jackson,  his  grandson,  at  85  years. 


sense  of  honor,  and  subsequently  liquidated  tliem  from  bis 
professional  earnings,  with  principal  and  interest. 

While  engaged  in  business  pursuits,  the  war  of  1812  with 
Great  Britain  was  declared.  Dr.  Jackson  had  always  been  an 
adherent  of  the  Jeflerson  school  of  politics,  the  principles  of 
which  he  imbibed  from  his  father,  and,  as  a  member  of  the 
Democratic  party,  which  had  urged  on  the  contest,  was  its 
zealous  advocate.  He  manifested  his  patriotism  by  joining  the 
"  First  Troop  of  City  Cavalry,"  and  with  it  took  part  in  the 
advanced  movements  of  the  troops  then  raised  to  protect  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  from  invasion  by  the  British.  The  au- 
tumn and  early  portion  of  the  winter  of  181-1  were  occupied  at 
Mount  Bull,  in  Maryland,  in  watching  the  movements  of  the 
enemy,  then  in  the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake,  or  in  riding  as  a 
vidette  between  that  post  and  the  city.  It  was  after  the  war 
had  terminated,  and  peace  declared  in  1815,  that  Dr.  Jackson 
closed  his  business  concerns,  and  by  so  doing  placed  himself 
on  a  footing  with  his  compeers  and  brother  practitioners  in 
his  native  city. 

Like  those  of  others  the  fortunes  of  medical  men  are  various, 
determined  by  the  circumstances  in  which  they  may  be  placed, 
by  their  tastes,  and  very  largely  by  their  idiosyncrasies  of 
character  and  disposition.  It  belonged  not  to  Dr.  Jackson's 
mental  constitution  to  remain  a  passive  though  meritorious 
aspirant  for  public  favor ;  his  temperament  was  ardent,  his 
mind  active  and  inquiring,  and  he  sought  the  means  of  advance- 
ment by  his  interest  in  the  well-being  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
by  the  application  of  his  knowledge,,  and  by  the  expendi- 
ture of  his  time  in  promoting  their  welfare.  Having  become 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  Philadelphia,  and  chosen 
its  president,  a  field  of  distinction  and  usefulness  Avas  presented 
to  him,  to  be  cultivated  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  talents 
and  industry.^  Events  soon  proved  that  the  duties  of  a  public 
servant  had  not  devolved  on  one  incompetent  or  unequal  to 
their  requirements.  The  opportunity  was  soon  at  hand  of 
exhibiting  his  fitness  for  his  office. 

'  He  was  elected  President  of  tlie  Board  of  Health  March  20th,  1820. 
Minutes  of  Board  of  Health. 


To  tbose  who  Lave  not  gone  tbrougli  the  ordeal,  there  can  be 
no  full  and  real  appreciation  of  the  alarm  and  distress  created 
in  a  densely  populated  city  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  such 
an  epidemic  as  yellow  fever.  A  battle-field  has  its  horrors; 
they  are  mitigated,  however,  by  the  excitement  of  the  struggle, 
and  the  stern  discipline  of  military  training :  but  the  unchecked 
raging  of  pestilence  has  unmitigated  terrors ;  it  invades  the 
precincts  of  the  family  and  social  circle ;  it  "  walketh  in  dark- 
ness," and  like  a  destroying  angel  it  hurries  to  an  untimely  end 
the  dearest  objects  of  love  or  affectionate  association.  The 
suddenness  of  bereavement  is  appalling  and  prostrating,  and 
men  of  the  coolest  heads  and  of  tried  courage  are  panic- 
stricken  and  helpless.  To  be  calm,  collected,  fearless,  and  effi- 
cient in  affording  aid  and  assistance  to  fellow  mortals  under 
such  circumstances  is  godlike. 

The  epidemics  of  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia  have  called 
forth  the  noblest  virtues  of  her  medical  men,  and  tested  their 
bravery,  their  heroic  endurance,  and  their  devoted  self-sacrifice 
in  behalf  of  humanity.  It  is  not  necessary  to  detail  the  trying 
scenes  through  which  our  profession  has  gone,  in  connection 
with  the  invasion  of  this  scourge,  to  which  so  often  our  city 
has  been  subjected.  The  history  of  its  ravages  has  been  drawn 
by  professional  as  well  as  non-professional  pens,  and  fiction 
even  has  not  exaggerated  the  delineation.  When  Dr.  Jackson 
was  President  of  the  Board  of  Health  in  the  summer  of  1820, 
yellow  fever,  by  its  sudden  and  fatal  invasion,  impressed  that 
body  with  the  weightiness  of  responsibility  that  rested  upon 
it;  and  manfully  was«this  met  by  its  presiding  officer  and  his 
fellow  members.^  Dr.  Jackson  identified  himself  with  the 
efforts  of  amelioration  that  were  instituted,  was  a  leading  coun- 
sellor of  his  fellow  practitioners,  toiling  day  and  night  in 
thoroughly  informing  himself  as  to  the  nature  and  character- 

1  The  members  of  the  Board  of  Health  were, 

Samuel  Jackson,  Samuel  Volens,  from  City. 

Joseph  Worrall,  James  West, 

Franklin  Bache,  John  Byerly,  from  Northern  Liberties. 

■William  Hawkes,  Charles  Souder,  Spring  Garden. 

Jesse  K.  Burden,  Joshua  Raybold,  Moyamensing. 

Joel  B.  Sutherland,  Southwark. 


istics  of  the  disease,  its  localities,  and  its  origin  and  causes ; 
devising,  in  consultation  with  his  associates,  professional  and 
non-professional,  the  best  means  of  limiting  its  spread ;  and  has 
left  a  graphic  and  important  record,  which  has  placed  his  name 
high  among  the  most  distinguished  and  honored  contributors 
to  our  knowledge  of  this  fearful  infliction  on  the  human  family. 
In  this  work  of  philanthropy  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Dr. 
Jesse  K.  Burden,  who  was  associated  with  him  on  the  commit- 
teQ  of  inquiry,  and  to  carry  out  such  sanitary  recommenda- 
tions as  were  deemed  expedient.  From  exposure  to  the  excit- 
ing causes  during  their  exploration.  Dr.  Jackson  had  an  attack 
of  the  disease.^  Should  reference  be  desired  to  the  papers  that 
were  published  by  Dr.  Jackson  on  the  subject,  they  will  be 
found  in  the  1st  and  2d  volumes  of  the  Philadelphia  Journal  of 
the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences ;  and  I  would  further  refer 
to  the  admirable  and  exhaustive  treatise  on  yellow  fever  by 
Dr.  La  Eoche,  in  which  ample  justice  is  awarded  to  Dr.  Jack- 
son's labors  and  researches. 

Before  dismissing  this  era  of  Dr.  Jackson's  life,  it  may  be 
interesting  to  make  a  brief  summary  of  his  conclusions.  The 
questions  as  regards  the  imported  or  non-imported  origin  of 
yellow  fever,  and  its  contagious  or  non-contagious  nature,  had 
long  been  the  subjects  of  litigation  and  dispute  among  medical 
men,  from  which  had  sprung  frequently,  in  the  excited  state 
of  feeling  that  was  engendered,  and  from  the  important  in- 
terests at  stake,  not  a  small  amount  of  acrimony.     They  were 

'  The  following  record  is  on  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Health,  July  36th, 
1830:  "Resolved  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  inspect  the 
present  state  of  the  city,  included  between  Arch  and  Vine  Streets,  and  be- 
tween Front  Street  and  the  Delaware,  and  report  upon  the  probable  causes 
of  the  cases  of  fever  which  have  been  reported  as  existing  in  that  neigh- 
borhood, to  the  Board  ;  and  also  to  take  measures  to  have  a  daily  report  of 
the  state  of  health  of  all  persons  employed  in  the  sail  loft  of  Messrs.  Keen 
&  Davis,  with  full  powers  to  remove  all  nuisances  which  may  come  under 
notice."  Messrs.  Jackson,  Burden  and  Bache  were  appointed  the  com- 
mittee. 

July  29th,  1820,  Drs.  Jackson  and  Burden  were  appointed  a  committee 
"to  remove  persons  now  living  on  Hodge's  Wharf."  August  3d,  1833, 
fences  were  directed  to  be  erected. 

i)r.  Burden  had  charge  of  the  temporary  hospital  which  was  opened 
July  21st.     He  resigned  September  1st. 


8 

questions  involving  not  only  the  safety  and  happiness  of  the 
community,  but  affecting  its  material  prosperity.  The  inroads 
of  death,  as  well  as  the  increase  or  decrease  of  riches,  are  in- 
separably connected  with  them.  Can  yellow  fever  be  checked 
at  its  commencement  ?  Can  it  be  stamped  out  or  prevented  ? 
These  are  points  affecting  the  general  welfare.  Or,  is  inter- 
course with  those  who  are  affected  with  it  dangerous,  under  all 
circumstances,  to  the  relatives  and  attendants? — a  question 
that  penetrates  to  the  very  core  of  social  connection. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  the  history  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession of  Philadelphia,  that  an  association  sprang  up  in  1799 
which  was  called  the  "Academy  of  Medicine,"  and  that  it  had 
as  its  founders  men  who  advocated  the  non-imported  and  non- 
contagious origin  of  yellow  fever.  Among  these  were  Physick, 
Dewees,  Coxe,  Caldwell,  and,  subsequently,  Kush,  who  had  be- 
come a  convert.  This  institution  was  in  antagonism  to  the 
College  of  Physicians,  in  which  body  the  contrary  doctrines 
had  their  warmest  supporters.  Before  the  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine Dr.  Jackson  read  his  papers,  in  1820.  By  indefatigable 
perseverance,  and  by  tracing  reports  and  common  rumor  to 
their  very  source,  he  had  determined  that  the  epidemic  of  1820 
had  not  been  imported,  but  that  its  origin  was  domestic  and 
local.  At  the  localities  where  it  prevailed  he  found  abundant 
sources  of  production  in  accumulated  filth  and  putrescent 
animal  and  vegetable  material,  and  could  discover  that  in  no 
case  where  individuals  laboring  under  the  disease  were  re- 
moved did  they  propagate  it  by  infection,  nor  by  the  sick  was 
it  communicated  to  attendants  or  relatives  who  had  not  been 
exposed  to  the  same  local  influences. 

The  measures  which  were  adopted  under  his  guidance  were 
the  removal  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  infected  districts  to 
more  salubrious  positions,  the  barricading  by  fences  the  lo- 
calities in  which  the  disease  originated,  and,  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable, removing  offensive  matters.  In  consequence  of  the 
measures  of  the  Board  of  Health,  the  City  Councils  were  in- 
duced, with  the  aid  of  the  leading  medical  bodies,  to  devise 
such  sanitary  measures  as  would  prevent  a  recurrence  in  future 
of  this  calamity.     But  once  since,  in  1853,  has  yellow  fever 


appeared  in  Pbiladelpliia,  and  then  it  was  suppressed  by  prompt 
and  effectual  measures. 

It  may  be  stated  that,  while  the  source  and  cause  of  the 
"black  vomit"  of  yellow  fever  were  subjects  of  conjecture 
rather  than  of  scientific  research,  at  the  time  Dr.  Jackson's 
paper  was  written,  he  attributed  it  to  hemorrhage,  not  to  se- 
cretion— a  view  that  in  later  times  has  been  subjected  to  the 
full  test  of  chemical  and  microscopic  examination,  and  has 
acquired  the  force  of  demonstration. 

In  1821  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  entered  upon 
its  successful  career  of  operation,  and  instituted  courses  of  lec- 
tures upon  chemistry  and  materia  medica,  in  connection  with 
its  plan  of  educating  apprentices  in  the  pharmaceutic  art.  Dr. 
Jackson  was  appointed  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  with  Dr. 
Gerard  Troost  as  his  colleague  in  the  Chair  of  Chemistry.  The 
latter  gentleman  resigned  his  position  the  year  following,  to  be 
succeeded  by  Professor  George  B.  Wood.  This  association  is 
worthy  of  note,  when  it  is  recollected  that  Professors  Wood 
and  Jackson,  in  subsequent  years,  during  a  full  quarter  of  a 
century,  were  colleagues  in  this  University.  -The  selection  of 
Dr.  Jackson  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Materia  Medica  in  the  College 
evidently  depended  on  the  estimate  of  his  fitness  from  his 
former  connection  with  the  pharmaceutic  profession,  the  deep 
interest  he  took  in  the  success  of  the  institution,  and  his 
share  in  organizing  it.  He  was  the  link,  as  it  were,  between 
the  two  professions,  and  from  early  training  was  supposed  to 
be  perfectly  conversant  with  the  requirements  of  each  of  them. 
That  this  was  the  case,  is  evident  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
Introductory  that  he  delivered  upon  entering  on  his  duties.^ 

At  the  period  when  the  College  of  Pharmacy  was  organized 
the  pharmaceutical  profession  was  at  a  low  ebb  not  only  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  but  in  the  United  States.  When  speaking 
of  its  condition,  in  the  lecture  referred  to,  he  makes  this  bold 
and  candid  declaration  :  "As  respects  drugs  and  medicines,  this 
country,  for  the  last  thirty  years,  has  been  retrograding  rather 

'  Dr.  Jackson  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  which  presented  the 
plan  for  the  foundation  of  the  College,  March  13,  1821.  He  was  elected  a 
Trustee,  March  27,  1821,  and  was  on  the  Committee  to  draft  resolutions 
for  the  government  of  the  College. 


10 

than  advancing.  Abandoned  by  physicians,  pharmacology 
has  not  been  prosecuted  as  a  science  by  the  druggists  and 
apothecaries ;  no  means  of  instruction  were  provided  for  these 
last,  no  rules  or  regulations  established  for  their  government 
in  order  to  insure  a  correct  dispensation  of  medicines  of  the 
most  improved  and  genuine  qualities.  Individuals  engaged  in 
the  vocation  of  an  apothecary  and  druggist  without  a  previous 
acquaintance  with  medicines,  ignorant  of  their  properties,  un- 
conscious of  their  responsibility  and  of  the  fatal  effects  which 
might  result  from  their  conduct.  Anxious  to  transact  business, 
they  have  sought  to  attract  customers  by  the  lowness  of  their 
prices.  Their  success  compelled  others  to  come  down  to  the 
same  standard,  and  thus,  by  successive  competition,  our  drugs 
and  medicines  are  cheaper  than  those  of  Europe,  but  are  de- 
teriorated in  the  same  proportion."  But  this  condition  of 
things  was  not  solely  due  to  the  pharmaceutist.  "  The  great 
body  of  practitioners,  especially  those  residing  in  the  country, 
knowing  medicines  only  by  their  names,  have  been  ignorant 
of  the  very  different  qualities  subsisting  amongst  them.  In 
their  purchases,-  incapable  of  making  a  selection  as  to  quality, 
the  lowest  price  was  preferred.  Inferior,  deteriorated,  and  so- 
phisticated medicines  and  drugs  met  with  ready  sale,  while  the 
choicest  and  most  select,  because  of  higher  price,  could  very 
seldom  meet  with  a  purchaser." 

The  disheartening  picture  here  presented  has  been  erased, 
and  that  such  would  be  the  case  was  predicted  by  the  lecturer. 
His  words  were  prophetic:  "In  the  United  States  pharma- 
cology is  a  aew  science.  Long  repudiated  from  medical  in- 
struction, too  feeble  to  assert  its  claims,  neglected  and  almost 
forgotten  by  its  more  brilliant  sister  sciences,  it  has  pined  in 
obscurity  and  penury.  This  reproach  and  stain  upon  the 
medicine  of  our  country  will  soon  be  effaced."  For  proof  that 
this  anticipation  has  been  realized  we  may  proudly  survey  the 
present  condition  of  this  department  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  our  extended  country.  The  influence  of  the 
Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  through  its  instruction  and 
through  its  Journal,  has  been  felt  in  every  quarter.  It  was  the 
pioneer ;  and  other  colleges  of  similar  organization  have  sprung 
up,  in  imitation,  at  the  great  centres  of  wealth  and  population. 


11 

The  people  have  been  instructed  as  regards  their  utility  and 
importance.  Co-operation  has  been  effected,  and  an  association 
among  pharmaceutists  has  been  created — the  "National  Phar- 
maceutical-Association"— which  is  eminently  useful.  A  Phar- 
macopoeia, whose  origin  was  coeval  with  the  College  of  Phar- 
macy, and  in  which  the  pharmaceutists  are  as  much  interested 
as  are  medical  men,  has  become  the  national  standard.  Our 
pharmaceutists  may  now  be  ranked  among  the  best  instructed 
of  the  world. 

To  whom  may  be  attributed  the  early  planting  and  nourish- 
ment of  this  intellectual  germ  which  has  yielded  so  plentifully, 
and  has  been  of  such  incalculable  benefit  to  the  community? 
The  record  shows  that  this  was  due  to  the  talents,  learning, 
energy,  and  industry  of  two  members  of  the  medical  profession, 
both  subsequently  Professors  in  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Samuel  Jackson  and  George  B.Wood;  and  further, 
for  the  first  twenty-five  years  in  the  history  of  the  college  the 
duty  of  instructing  its  pupils  was  intrusted  to  members  of  the 
same  profession.  I  wish  not  to  derogate  from  the  merit  of  those 
enlightened  druggists  and  apothecaries  who  were  coadjutors 
in  the  work  of  founding  the  College  of  Pharmacy.  They 
well  appreciated  the  abilities  of  those  who  only  at  the  time 
could  subserve  their  purpose  of  instruction,  and  nobly  sup- 
ported them  until  eminent  members  of  their  own  profession 
arose  to  carry  on  the  enterprise  so  happily  inaugurated.^ 

'  That  tlie  College  of  Pharmacy  did  not  burst  forth  a  success  from  its 
foundation,  is  shown  from  the  address  of  Dr.  Wood,  to  the  members  of 
the  College  of  Pharmacy,  delivered  November  16,  1834.  The  school  had 
then  been  three  years  in  operation.  After  stating  the  requirements  for 
educating  an  apprentice  in  the  pharmaceutical  profession,  and  the  measures 
that  had  been  adopted,  he  proceeds  to  remark :  "  Professorships  on  the  two 
most  important  pharmaceutical  sciences  have  also  been  instituted,  and 
regular  courses  of  lectures  on  chemistry  and  materia  medicai  have  been 
delivered  for  the  last  three  winters.  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  tell  you  that  this  department  of  the  college  is  in  an  equally  flour- 
ishing condition,  but  most  of  you  are  aware  that  such  an  assertion  would 
be  an  empty  boast.  The  fact  is,  that,  during  the  last  winter  more  especially, 
the  labors  of  the  lecturers  were  rewarded  by  little  more  than  the  con- 
sciousness that  their  own  share  of  the  necessary  duties  had  not  been 
entirely  neglected.  The  slender  expenses  incident  to  the  chemical  course 
absorbed,  within  a  very  trifling  sum,  the  whole  refeeipts  from  the  students 


12 

With  respect  to  a  knowledge  of  pharmacology  being 
necessary  to  the  physician,  the  language  of  Dr.  Jackson  is  as 
applicable  and  cogent  at  the  present  day  as  it  was  fully  fifty 
years  ago.  "  No  one  who  reflects  upon  the  subject  can  question 
the  importance  of  pharmacological  knowledge  in  the  completion 
of  a  medical  education.  Of  what  avail  are  talents  of  the 
highest  order,  and  erudition  the  most  profound,  to  a  practi- 
tioner who  is  furnished  with  unfaithful  remedies  and  knows 
not  how  to  distinguish  them  ?  A  knowledge  of  pharmacology 
is,  then,  as  indispensable  to  the  practitioner  as  that  of  any  other 
department  of  medical  science."^ 

Dr.  Jackson  had  now  fairly  entered  upon  his  career  as  a 
teacher.  Besides  holding  the  chair  in  the  College  of  Phar- 
mac}',  he  joined  the  association  which  was  organized  by  Dr. 
Chapman,  for  the  instruction  of  the  pupils  of  the  University 
who  remained  in  the  city  during  the  recess  between  the  public 
courses  of  lectures.  His  first  position  in  it  was  as  teacher  of 
Medical  Chemistry,  which,  on  the  remodelling  of  the  institution, 
was  changed  to  that  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics.  The 
association  alluded  to  subsequently  became  the  Medical  Insti- 
tute, in  which  were  engaged  not  only  Professors  of  the  Uni- 
versity, but  some  of  the  most  active  and  rising  members  of 
the  profession.^  In  1829  a  special  hall  was  erected  to  accom- 
modate the  class,  then  having  reached  beyond  one  hundred  in 
number,  and  in  1837  a  more  public  and  independent  char- 
acter was  given  to  the  institution  by  the  bestowal  of  a  charter. 

of  pliarmficy,  and  the  lecturer  was  denied  the  pleasure  that  he  himself 
would  have  derived  from  the  exhibition  of  more  numerous  experiments  by 
the  apprehension  of  actual  private  loss.  He  might,  indeed,  be  disposed  to 
attribute  this  want  of  encouragement  to  his  own  imperfections  as  a  lecturer, 
but  surely  the  same  reason  could  not  be  assigned  for  an  almost  equal 
desertion  of  his  colleague.  The  lectures  of  the  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  have  never  been  accused  of  deficiency,  either  as  to  the  value  of  the 
knowledge  inculcated,  or  as  to  the  manner  in  which  that  knowledge  is 
conveyed ;  he  must  therefore  look  to  another  source  for  at  least  a  portion  of 
this  neglect,  and  may  we  not  find  it  iu  the  apathy  of  a  great  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  college?"  Addresses,  etc.,  by  George  B.  Wood,  M.D. 
LL.D. 

Discourse. 
2  It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  gentlemen  thus  first  united  were,  Drs. 
Chapman,  Dewees,  Horner,  Bell,  Mitchell,  Jackson,  Hodge,  and  Harris. 


13 

Dr.  Jackson  continued  his  connection  with  it  until  in  184-i  it 
was  transferred  to  other  hands. 

The  teaching  of  Dr.  Jackson  possessed  great  attractiveness, 
not  only  from  its  warmth  and  enthusiasm,  but  from  the  fresh- 
ness and  novelty  of  his  prelections  and  his  practical  expositions. 
He  exhibited  in  animated  language  the  ideal  entertained  by 
him  of  the  true  nature  of  pharmacological  investigation,  and 
placed  its  proper  objects  before  the  mind  of  the  attentive  stu- 
dent. Convinced  that  this  branch  of  medicine  had  fallen  in 
the  rear  of  its  kindred  branches,  and  that  a  knowledge  of  it 
was  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  medical  practitioner, 
his  energies  were  devoted  to  the  efibrt  to  restore  it  to  its  right 
position,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  exertions  contributed 
largely  to  revolutionize  the  system  of  instruction  then  existing 
in  the  University,  and  soon  to  bring  about  a  change  which  in 
other  hands  placed  the  department  of  pharmacology  in  the 
front  rank  of  medical  instruction. 

But  there  was  another  field  with  which  Dr,  Jackson  was 
occupied,  in  cultivating  which,  all  the  traits  of  his  constitu- 
tional nature  and  his  talents  were  fully  exhibited.  In  1822, 
he  had  been  elected  one  of  the  "  attending  physicians  of  the 
Philadelphia  Almshouse,"  This  establishment  then,  as  it 
now  does,  presented  the  most  extensive  opportunities  for  the 
observation  of  disease,  and  for  pathological  research.  Since 
its  resources  had  by  enlightened  direction  a  few  years  pre- 
viously been  made  available  for  clinical  purposes,  it  consti- 
tuted an  invaluable  school  of  study  and  improvement,  not 
only  for  students  of  medicine,  but  for  the  rising  generation  of 
medical  men.  By  Dr.  Jackson,  such  opportunities  were  seized 
with  ardor ;  he  had  become  an  indefatigable  student  and  reader, 
and  he  neglected  no  occasion  of  verifying  his  knowledge  de- 
rived from  books,  or  of  correcting  preconceived  ideas  if  not 
borne  out  by  facts  presented  in  his  bedside  investigation.  At 
the  time  specified,  practical  medicine  was  in  a  state  of  proba- 
tion, an  active  inquiring  spirit  had  pervaded  every  portion  of 
it,  and  the  old  theories  and  modes  of  exploration  challenged 
re-examination.  If  we  search  into  the  causes  of  this  activity, 
they  must  be  recognized  in  the  diffusion  of  intelligence  through 
the  periodical  medical  press  that  had  been  established,  which, 


14 

not  waiting  for  the  developments  of  learned  societies,  or  the 
slow  experiences  of  authors  through  erudite  treatises,  scattered 
broadcast  the  accounts  of  disease  in  particular  localities,  the 
results  of  even  the  humblest  investigators  in  science,-gathered 
up  communications  from  foreign  sources,  and  enabled  each  one 
to  inform  himself  in  the  speediest  way  concerning  all  that  was 
pertinent  to  the  immediate  subject  of  his  thoughts  and  require- 
ments. In  this  species  of  enterprise  our  own  country  had  set 
the  example.^ 

Without  attempting  to  enumerate  all  the  advances  in  prac- 
tical medicine  that  had  been  brought  about,  or  were  being 
inaugurated,  we  may  allude  to  a  few  in  which  Dr.  Jackson  was 
especially  interested,  and  which  he  contributed  to  render 
effective.  The  mode  of  arriving  at  an  accurate  diagnosis  of 
diseases  of  the  chest  by  means  of  auscultation  had  within  a  few 
years  been  devised  by  Laennec.  This  distinguished  patho- 
logist and  practitioner,  instigated  by  some  passages  in  the  works 
of  Hippocrates  with  reference  to  employing  the  ear  in  the  de- 
tection of  sounds  connected  with  disease  of  the  lungs,  and 
deriving  his  cue  further  from  the  work  of  Avenbrugger  upon 
the  availability  of  assisting  diagnosis  by  percussion,  invented 
the  method  of  studying  pectoral  affections  by  means  of  "  me- 
diate auscultation."^  To  him  we  are  indebted  for  devising  the 
stethoscope,  and  for  all  the  brilliant  results  of  the  discovery 
that  a  sure  and  certain  method  existed  by  which  discrimina- 
tion between  such  diseases  was  as  practicable  as  if  they  were 
submitted  to  inspection. 

In  the  light  of  the  present  day,  when  this  mode  of  explora- 
tion has  been  carried  to  such  refinement  of  application,  it 
would  appear  extraordinary  that  it  had  been  overlooked  for  so 
long  a  period,  and  at  this  the  discoverer  himself  expressed  his 
astonishment.  In  1818,  he  read  a  memoir  upon  the  subject  to 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  and  in  the  same  year  pub- 
lished his  work  entitled,  "  On  Mediate  Auscultation ;  or,  A 

«  The  "  Medical  Repository,"  of  New  York,  "was  published  in  1797.  It 
took  precedence  of  the  Medical  Journals  of  Europe.  See  Rev.  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's Life  of  Edward  Miller,  M.D. 

2  He  had  been  a  pupil  of  Corvisart,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  listening  to 
the  sounds  of  the  heart. 


15 

Treatise  on  the  Diagnosis  of  the  Lungs  and  of  the  Heart,  based 
principally  upon  this  new  mode  of  Exploration."  It  is  not 
necessary  to  narrate  how  this  revelation  was  received  in  Europe; 
the  story  has  been  told  by  the  English  translator  of  the  work, 
the  eminent  Dr.  John  Forbes;  it  will  be  more  to  the  purpose 
to  exhibit  the  reception  it  met  with  in  the  United  States.  . 

When  Dr.  Jackson  became  a  visiting  physician  of  the  Alms- 
house, auscultation  was  in  its  infancy,  and  it  became  his  duty, 
as  well  as  a  pleasure,  from  the  extreme  interest  he  took  in  it, 
to  test  its  value  and  develop  its  practical  usefulness.  With 
the  younger  men  who  were  associated  with  him  in  charge  of 
the  sick  wards,  he  studied  diligently  the  cases  under  treatment, 
applied  the  method  of  diagnosis  that  he  had  introduced  among 
them,  and  where  death  occurred  verified  the  results  of  their 
previous  estimates  of  disease  by  pathological  examination.  He 
was  a  student  as  well  as  teacher  among  students.  The  first 
fruits  of  this  laborious  employment  were  given  in  the  form  of 
an  Inaugural  Essay,  printed  in  the  May  number  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Journal  of  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences  for  1824,  by 
Dr.  Edmund  Strudwick,  of  North  Carolina,  one  of  the  resident 
students  of  the  Almshouse.  In  this  essay  he  refers  to  Dr. 
Jackson's  guidance. 

We  are  told,  in  the  life  of  Laennec  by  Dr.  Forbes,  that  in  Eng- 
land this  discovery  "  was  at  first  received  by  the  profession  with 
considerable  distrust,  and  the  new  mode  of  diagnosis,  and  espe- 
cially the  instrument,  was  attempted  to  be  turned  into  ridicule." 
It  has  been  stated  that  the  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  was  not  received  by  any  physician  of  the  time  of  Harvey 
who  was  over  forty  years  of  age,  and  this  may  be  said 
to  have  been  the  case  as  regards  the  introduction  of  mediate 
auscultation  in  this  country.  It  was  opposed  by  even  those 
who  from  their  studies  of  the  vocal  apparatus  ought  to  have 
taken  a  more  favorable  view  of  it.  It  was  subjected  to  derision, 
and  a  paraphrase  of  Dr.  Johnson's  definition  of  the  angler  was 
freely  circulated :  "  A  patient  at  one  end  of  a  wooden  tube  and 
a  fool  at  the  other."  I  recollect  the  case  of  a  gentleman  labor- 
ing under  phthisis,  whose  wife  was  desirous  that  an  examina- 
tion of  him  should  be  made  with  the  stethoscope,  and  on  making 
the  request  of  the  physician  in  attendance,  he  replied  he  would 


16 

get  lier  one  and  she  could  make  tlie  examination  lierself.  But 
this  incredulity  and  ignorance  were  destined  to  disappear  before 
the  advancing  march  of  science.  Adepts  arose  whose  skill  and 
precision  swept  from  before  them  all  doubt  and  sarcasm.  A 
pertinent  illustration  of  what  was  then  regarded  as  a  triumphant 
vindication  of  the  precision  of  stethoscopic  diagnosis  was  related 
to  me  by  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  George  Morton,  to  which  he  was 
a  witness:  a  person  at  the  head  of  the  police  force  of  this  city, 
a  man  of  great  muscular  development  and  robust  constitu- 
tion, had  so  injured  his  health  by  dissipation  and  exposure  as 
to  present  all  the  rational  signs  of  consumption  least  expected 
in  such  a  subject ;  the  attending  physicians  were  no  believers 
in  physical  exploration,  and  Dr.  Jackson  was  called  in  to  test 
his  skill,  and  see  if  he  could  elucidate  the  real  condition  of  the 
patient.  He  diagnosticated  an  extensive  vomica  and  gave  its 
"metes  and  bounds."  Post-mortem  examination ■  verified  to  a 
tittle  the  accuracy  of  the  diagnosis,  and  auscultation  had  a  new 
significance  in  the  eyes  of  the  spectators. 

Upon  the  reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  of  the  Almshouse  in  1822,  including  three  professors 
of  the  University,  the  system  was  introduced  of  delivering  lec- 
tures regularly  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays  in  the  lecture- 
room.  These  lectures  soon  became  extremely  popular,  and 
attracted  large  classes  of  medical  students  annually ;  their  popu- 
larity in  no  small  degree  arose  from  the  devoted  earnestness 
and  lucid  expositions  of  Dr.  Jackson.  His  efiectiveness  and 
force  as  a  clinical  teacher  were  maintained  throughout  the  pro- 
longed period  that  he  was  connected  with  this  infirmary,  from 
which  he  retired  in  18-15,  when  coerced  by  more  pressing 
duties.  His  clinical  teaching  was  afterwards  confined  wholly 
to  that  service  within  the  walls  of  the  University.  Several 
of  his  clinical  lectures  delivered  in  the  Philadelphia. (Almshouse) 
Hospital  are  published  in  the  early  numbers  of  the  Medical 
Examiner. 

In  1827  Dr.  Jackson  was  chosen  by  Professor  Chapman  as 
his  assistant  in  the  University.  The  Chair  embraced  the 
"  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  Clinical  Medicine,  and  the 
Institutes  of  Medicine."  The  delivery  of  lectures  upon  the 
latter  of  these  subjects  was  delegated  to  the  assistant. 


17 

The  brancli  of  "  Institutes  of  Medicine"  has  met  with  varied 
fortunes  as  regards  its  position  of  subserviency  or  inde- 
pendence in  this  school  of  medicine.  It  was  originally  ap- 
pended to  the  chair  of  chemistry,  having  been  recommended 
by  Dr.  Wistar,  then  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
but  elected  in  1789  the  incumbent  of  a  twofold  chair  of 
chemistry  and  institutes.  In  the  arrangement  that  was  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  coalition  of  the  College  and  the  Uni- 
versity in  1791,  it  was  desirable  to  accommodate  both  Dr.  Kuhn 
and  Dr.  Eush,  and  the  theory  and  practice  was  therefore  appor- 
tioned to  the  former  professor,  while  the  subject  of  the  insti- 
tutes conjoined  to  clinical  medicine  was  assumed  by  the  latter. 
When  Dr.  Kuhn  resigned,  Dr.  Rush  succeeded  to  the  chair  of 
the  theory  and  practice,  into  which  were  merged  clinical  medi- 
cine and  the  institutes.  It  thus  stood  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Jack- 
son's appointment. 

However  brilliant  had  been  the  discourses  of  the  eloquent 
Rush,  the  times  had  changed  as  regards  the  requirements  of 
medical  teaching,  and  the  development  of  physiological  and 
pathological  science  demanded  additional  assistance  in  doing 
justice  to  subjects  included  under  so  comprehensive  a  title  as 
that  held  by  Professor  Chapman.  It  has  been  seen  how  clini- 
cal medicine  had  been  provided  for  in  a  school  of  experience 
where  the  professor  of  practice  had  so  able  an  assistant  in  Dr. 
Jackson,  and  now  he  was  selected  by  the  same  professor  to  aid 
him  in  his  collegiate  duties.  Practical  medicine  had  been  car- 
ried to  an  exalted  position  in  the  courses  of  instruction,  but  Dr. 
Chapman  had  found  himself  unable  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  a  more  extended  sphere  and  the  institutes  were  discontinued. 

In  the  discourse  that  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Jackson,  when 
entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  appointment,  he  indicated  the 
topics  falling  properly  within  the  circle  of  the  institutes,  and 
laid  down  the  principles  upon  which  rational  medicine  is  based. 
Physiology,  pathology,  therapeutics,  symptomatology,  semeio- 
sis,  diagnosis,  prognosis,  and  hygiene  are  designated  as  the  sub- 
jects comprised  in  this  general  term  of  institutes,  in  the  discus- 
sion of  which  adherence  to  a  rigid  system  of  philosophic  reason- 
ing is  strictly  to  be  maintained.  He  pointed  out  the  difiterence 
2 


18 

between  theory  and  hypothesis,  and  indicated  the  true  value  of 
experience.  His  axiom  must  be  admitted  to  be  correct:  "  Ex- 
perience combined  with  sound  discriminating  observation  fur- 
nishes the  facts  from  which  theory  is  derived,  while  the  truth 
of  theory  can  be  alone  determined  by  experience  and  observa- 
tion," This  embraces  the  true  elements  of  the  Baconian  sys- 
tem. In  endeavoring  to  carry  out  his  ideal  conceptions  of  the 
task  he  had  undertaken,  he  drew  his  materials  from  all  the 
available  resources  at  his  command,  and  spared  no  pains  or 
labor  to  render  his  efforts  effectual.  I  was  one  of  those  who 
attended  his  first  course  of  lectures,  and  can  fully  testify  not 
only  to  its  entire  acceptableness  to  those  who  listened  to  him, 
but  to  the  pleasure  that  was  derived  from  his  earnestness  of 
address  and  his  eloquent  style  of  delivery.  Eestricted  as  he 
was  for  time,  as  only  two  lectures  a  week  were  allotted  to  him, 
and  that  in  a  session  of  but  four  months'  duration,  this  course 
was  but  the  foreshadowing  of  what  his  lectures  became  in  sub- 
sequent years,  when  occupying  the  position  of  full  professor. 

At  the  time  that  Dr.  Jackson  had  fully  entered  upon  his 
career  as  a  medical  teacher,  there  arose  a  brilliant  light  in 
the  firmament  of  medical  science  in  the  person  of  Broussais. 
This  distinguished  innovator  has  been  overshadowed  and 
has  almost  been  forgotten  in  the  advances  that  have  been 
made  in  the  last  thirty  years ;  but  we  must  refer  to  him  as 
one  who  was  all  potent  in  swaying  the  opinions  and  in  influ- 
encing the  practice  of  those  who  were  the  recipients  of  his 
instruction,  or  w^ho,  through  his  numerous  publications,  be- 
came convinced  of  the  correctness  of  his  innovations.  At 
the  present  day  the  idea  of  Broussaisism  is  connected  with 
gastro-enteritis  as  the  source  of  all  febrile  diseases,  and  with 
leeches  and  gum-water  as  remedies  to  be  employed  in  combat- 
ing them.  No  such  impression  can  be  more  erroneous.  Brous- 
sais was  a  philosopher  as  well  as  an  innovator,  and,  as  the 
founder  of  what  has  been  termed  the  "Physiological  System  of 
Medicine,"  he  is  entitled  to  the  highest  respect  and  admiration. 
His  "  Researches  upon  Hectic  Fever,"  but  more  especially  his 
"History  of  Chronic  Inflammations,"  which  had  reached  its 
fourth  edition  in  1826,  had  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of 


19 

medical  observers.^  But  his  "Treatise  on  Physiology  applied 
to  Pathology,"-  and  his  "  Examination  of  the  Medical  Doctrine 
generally  adopted,  and  the  Modern  Systems  of  Nosology,"  had 
placed  him  still  higher  as  a  systematic  inquirer  into  the 
general  principles  on  which  our  science  is  founded.  His 
efforts  were  directed  to  break  down  the  Ontology  that  existed, 
and  to  establish  in  its  place  a  system  of  demonstration  and 
reasoning  founded  on  the  structure  and  vital  operations  of  the 
organs,  their  modes  of  impressibility,  and  their  relations  to  one 
another.  With  him  originated  the  expression  that  life  was 
"  organism  in  action ;"  and  he  asserted  that  this  action  was 
maintained  through  the  excitability  pertaining  to  the  tissues 
and  organs  —  that  morbid  excitability  was  irritability,  and 
morbid  excitation  was  irritation. 

It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  trace  out  in  detail  the  full  bearing 
of  the  doctrines  of  Broussais,  or  the  influence  they  have  had 
upon  the  medical  mind ;  but  we  must  admit  the  correctness 
of  the  estimate  that  has  been  given  by  one  of  his  biogra- 
phers with  respect  to  his  services  to  medical  science,  when 
he  states,  that,  while  his  eftbrt  to  establish  a  system  was  a  pure 
conception  of  his  mind,  his  glory  originated  from  another 
source,  the  practical  impulse  that  he  gave  to  the  researches  of 
the  new  medical  generation,  by  reason  of  which  he  has  led 
us  all  to  the  study  of  organic  lesions,  to  the  search  for  local 
diagnosis,  and  the  true  interpretation  of  symptoms.^  Dr.  Jack- 
son was  deeply  imbued  with  the  importance  of  Broussais's 
teachings,  and  he  gave  in  his  adhesion  to  the  "School  of 
Physiological  Medicine."  He  not  only  taught  medicine  in 
accordance  with  the  inculcations  of  this  philosophy,  but  advo- 
cated in  debate  the  truthfulness  of  the  developments  that  had 
been  made  by  it.'' 

'  This  book  was  translated  from  tlie  French  by  Isaac  Hays,  M.  D.,  and 
R.  Egglesfield  Griffith,  M.D.,  1831. 

2  This  work  was  translated  from  the  French  by  John  Bell,  M.  D.,  and 
R.  La  Roche,  M.D.,  Philadelphia,  1826. 

»  Eloges  lus  dans  les  Seances  Publiques  de  I'Acadcmie,  par  E.  Fred. 
Dubois  (d' Amiens),  Paris,  1864. 

*  In  the  "Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences" 
for  1826  and  1827,  Tfill  be  found  a  series  of  essays  by  Dr.  Jackson,  in  which 
he  gives,  first,  an  admirable  account  of  the  progress  of  the  doctrine  of  irri- 


20 

The  winter  of  1830-31  was  remarkable  for  the  interest  that 
was  awakened  by  the  public  discussion  of  medical  topics  in 
the  "Medical  Society  of  Philadelphia."  This  Society  was  com- 
posed of  senior  and  junior  members, — the  latter  consisting  of 
students  of  the  two  medical  schools.  The  champions  of  oppo- 
sing views  were  Dr.  Jackson,  and  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  late  of 
Cincinnati,  who  for  a  season  held  the  chair  of  Institutes  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College.^  From 
week  to  week  expectation  was  on  tiptoe  as  each  one  read  his 
paper,  and  in  the  debate  which  followed  met  the  objections 
and  criticisms  of  his  antagonist.  It  was  the  school  of  the 
philosophers  renewed.  Dr.  Jackson  there  exhibited  his  pro- 
found knowledge  of  his  subject,  his  erudition  and  broad  views 
of  medical  science,  supported  by  his  own  clinical  experience 
and  deductions,  and  he  came  out  of  the  encounter  with  en- 
hanced reputation,  although  it  was  sustained  with  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  and  practiced  debaters  that  have  ever  arisen 
in  the  medical  profession.  It  was  no  mean  distinction  to  have 
triumphantly  maintained  his  positions  when  Professor  Drake 
was  in  opposition.  While  all  who  were  listeners  were  deeply 
interested,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  juvenile  portion  of  the  audi- 
ence was  at  its  acme. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood,  however,  that  Dr.  Jackson  was  a 
blind  partisan  of  the  school  of  Broussais;  his  appreciation  of 
him  was  modified  by  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  scope  of 
medicine.  In  speaking  of  this  leader,  he  remarks :  "  The  doc- 
trine of  Broussais,  evolved  by  his  extensive  pathological  re- 
searches and  clinical  observations,  combined  with  a  method 
often  of  rigid  induction,  allies  the  principle  of  Brown  with  the 
general  anatomy  of  Bichat.  This  doctrine  in  its  fullest  extent 
can  be  considered,  however,  as  no  more  than  the  physiology 
and  philosophy  of  irritation.     This  great  and  extended  pheno- 

tability  from  the  earliest  times.  He  then  presents  the  different  character- 
istics assumed  by  irritation  in  the  several  tissues  and  organs  of  the  economy, 
and  traces  the  laws  by  which  it  is  governed.  At  the  time  these  papers 
were  published  they  were  invaluable,  not  only  as  an  exposition  of  the  stage 
at  which  medical  knowledge  had  arrived,  but  from  the  suggestive  thought 
contained  in  them. 

'  Dr.  Jackson  was  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Medical  Society. 


21 

menan,  productive  of  so  many  cind  diversified  consequences, 
he  has  appreciated  more  clearly  and  developed  more  fully  than 
any  who  have  preceded  him.  This  system  is,  however,  not 
perfect ;  it  is  not  universal.  Physiological  knowledge  lies  far  in 
the  rear  of  that  state  of  perfection  to  which  it  will  arrive;  the 
mysteries  of  vital  phenomena,  the  laws  of  vital  activity,  no 
one  can  pretend  are  spread  before  us  in  a  blaze  of  light,  leav- 
ing no  doubt,  no  hesitancies,  no  difficulties  as  to  their  nature. 
For  no  system  of  physiological  medicine  can  there  be  claimed 
the  attributes  of  infallibility  and  perfection.  The  system  of 
Broussais  contains  many  and  important  truths,  but  it  is  not  all 
true,  nor  does  it  compass  all  truth.  It  is  enforced  by  its  author 
in  too  dogmatical  a  spirit."^ 

At  this  time  pathological  investigation  had  another  notable 
promoter  in  the  person  of  Louis.  This  remarkable  man  was 
the  opposite  of  Broussais  in  characteristics,  for  he  was  quiet 
and  unassuming;  long  reticent  as  regards  the  results  of  the 
inquiries  that  occupied  him,  when  they  had  been  attained  he 
gave  them  to  the  world  to  be  judged  by  the  only  true  test  of 
discovery,  their  confirmation  or  disproval  by  others.  Louis 
was  no  litigant;  by  long  toil  and  patience  he  had  rent  the  veil 
which  concealed  the  correct  pathology  of  typhoid  fever,  and 
with  his  former  master,  Chomel,  gave  such  a  comprehensive 
detailed  account  of  the  disease  as  to  carry  conviction  to  the 
minds  of  all  impartial  pathologists  that  the  imputation  of  ob- 
scurity existed  no  longer.  It  could  not  be  denied  that  the 
structural  lesions  of  the  "slow  nervous  fever"  of  Huxham,  of 
the  "  mucous  fever"  of  Stoll,  and  of  the  "  lingering  remittents" 
whose  persistency  and  phenomena  had  for  so  long  a  time  em- 
barrassed the  practitioner,  and  baffled  his  attempts  at  speedy 
cure,  had  been  at  last  determined.^ 

*  Preface  to  the  Principles  of  Medicine,  p.  ix. 

2  The  book  of  Louis  is  entitled — 

"Recherches  Anatomiques,  Pathologiques  et  Therapeutiques  svu'le  Ma- 
ladies eonnues  sous  les  noms  de  Gastro-Enterite,  Fievre  Putride,  Adyna- 
mique,  Ataxique,  Typhoide,  etc.,  par  P.  Ch.  A.  Louis,  M.D.,  etc.  etc., 
1829."  Louis  informs  us  in  his  preface  that  he  was  engaged  in  gathering 
together  his  materials  for  this  work  from  1823  to  1827.  It  Avas  published 
two  years  afterwards. 


22 

It  is  interesting  to  review  the  time  when  what  is  now  among 
the  settled  truths  of  pathological  science  was  passing  through 
the  period  of  rigid  scrutiny;  when  awakened  inquirers  were 
struggling  for  enlightenment.  Of  this  great  discovery  Dr. 
Jackson  was  not  unmindful,  but  he  had  not  disabused  him- 
self of  the  purely  gastro-enteritic  origin  of  fevers ;  he  had  not 
taken  in  the  true  fact,  that  the  glands  of  Peyer  and  Bruner 
were  the  seats  of  the  organic  lesions  in  this  form  of  febrile  dis- 
ease. I  recollect  at  the  commencement  of  my  novitiate,  as 
resident  physician  of  the  Philadelphia  Almshouse  in  1830,  that 
Dr.  Jackson,  standing  by  the  bedside  of  a  patient,  whose  dis- 
ease was  a  persistent  fever,  and  descanting  upon  its  probable 
pathology  before  a  class  of  students,  referred  to  the  views  and 
the  investigations  of  Louis,  and  remarked  that  in  this  disease 
that  observer  had  determined  an  inflammation  more  particularly 
restricted  to  the  caput  coli.  With  these  hints,  and  with  the 
works  of  Louis  and  Chomel  that  soon  came  into  our  hands,  we 
were  not  slow  by  practical  investigation  in  realizing  the  truth 
of  their  statements.^    Through  the  guidance  of  these  authorities, 

'  The  occurrence  of  ulcerations  in  the  intestines  in  connection  with  fever 
had  been  noticed  by  a  number  of  observers.  In  1814  Petit  &  Serres  published 
an  account  of  a  form  of  fever,  called  "  fievre  entero-mesenterique  ;"  they 
noticed  the  ulcerations.  Trolier  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  of  Lyons,  refers  to  ulcers 
in  the  intestines  in  cases  of  fever  (Archives]Generales,  Sept.  1825,  Vol.  IX.). 
Bretonneau,  having  observed  the  same  lesion  in  the  intestines,  gave  to  it  the 
name  of  "Dothinenterite."  (Archiv.  Gen.,  and  K  A.  Med.  and  Surg. 
Journ.,  July,  1826.)  Dr.  George  B.Wood  refers  to  a  case  of  perforation  of 
the  ileum,  and  ulceration  in  typhus  mitior.  (Art.  on  Oil  of  turpentine,  etc.,  N. 
A.  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.,  April  1826.)  Dr.  Hewitt,  of  London,  noticed  ulce- 
ration of  the  intestines  without  attributing  more  importance  to  the  fact  than 
as  complicating  fever.  (Lond.  Med.  Phys.  Journal,  Aug.  1827.)  Dr.  Geo. 
Bettner  reported  "  Cases  of  ulcerations  of  the  intestines  in  connection  with 
fever,"  observed  by  him  when  a  resident  of  the  Philadelphia  Almshouse. 
(N.  A.  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.  1828.)  In  his  "Clinical  Illustrations  of  fever, 
1830,"  Dr.  Alexander  Tweedie  notices  the  ulceration  in  "typhus  fever"  and 
specifies  16  cases  out  of  54  dissections  ;  he  also  alludes  to  the  enlargement 
of  the  mesenteric  glands.  In  the  systematic  treatises  on  the  practice  of 
medicine,  no  reference  was  made  to  the  pathology  of  typhoid  fever.  Gregory 
who  piiblished  in  1828-29,  Southwood  Smith  in  1830,  and  Eberle  whose 
work  was  issued  in  1831,  made  no  allusion  to  the  ulceration  of  the  intestines. 
Until  the  appearance  of  the  work  of  Louis  in  1829,  and  that  of  Chomel  in 
1834,  there  was  no  recognition  of  the  fact  that  in  typhoid  fever  there  existed 
an  essential  form  typical  as  regards  symptoms,  course,  and  anatomical 


23 

the  lesions  of  "typhoid  fever"  became  perfectly  famihar  to  us, 
and  I  need  only. further  state  that  with  this  foundation  per- 
fected by  a  service  with  Louis  himself  in  Paris,  my  late  lamented 
colleague,'  Dr.  Gerhard,  most  conclusively  drew  the  distinction 
between  bilious,  remittent,  typhus,  and  typhoid  fevers.  His 
conclusions  have  become  the  settled  facts  of  medical  science.^ 

In  1832  was  published  the  "  Principles  of  Medicine  founded 
on  the  structure  and  functions  of  the  animal  organism."  This 
work  has  been  subjected  to  varied  criticism,  occasionally 
severe,  according,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  preconceived 
views  and  fixed  opinions  of  the  reviewer.  It  is  necessary, 
therefore,  to  give  an  account  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  issued.  At  the  time  Dr.  Jackson  undertook 
the  task  of  teaching  the  institutes  of  medicine,  the  subject 
was  in  a  disarranged  condition.  A  new  foundation  for 
the  prosecution  of  physiological  and  pathological  inquiry  had 
been  laid  by  the  labors  of  Bichat  at  the  commencement  of  the 
century,  and  the  spirit  of  research  that  was  engendered,  while 
it  bore  ample  fruits,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  contributions  of 
Laennec  and  Broussais,  was  equally  prolific  of  revelations 
through  the  genius  and  untiring  devotion  of  Andral,  of  Chomel, 
and  of  Louis.  The  "  Anatomic  Gdn^rale"  of  Bichat  was  ex- 
tended by  the  zeal  and  faithfulness  of  Meckel  and  Beolard,  while 
special  experimenters  endeavored  to  comprehend  the  uses  of 

intestinal  lesions,  which  had  been  partially  depicted  by  Huxham  as  the 
"  slow  nervous  fever,"  the  typhus  mitior  of  other  writers.  An  account  of 
typhoid  fever  was  published  in  the  American  edition  of  Mackintosh's 
Practice  in  1835,  written  by  Dr.  Carson.  It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the 
late  Dr.  James  Jackson,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  to  state  that,  when  in  1833  he  re- 
turned from  Paris,  he  recognized,  in  an  epidemic  of  what  was  supposed  to 
be  typhus,  the  same  lesions  he  had  seen  when  a  pupil  of  Louis.  (Memoir 
by  his  father,  Dr.  James  Jackson.)  Ulceration  of  the  intestines  was  ob- 
served in  New  England  by  Dr.  Bartlett  and  other  physicians.  (Bartlett  ou 
Typhoid  and  Typhus  Fever,  1843.) 

'  Upon  his  return  from  Europe,  Dr.  Gerhard  undertook  the  task  of  de- 
termining the  identity  of  the  typhoid  fever  of  this  country  and  that  of 
France,  and  also  of  ascertaining  the  true  pathological  distinction  between 
it  and  the  bilious,  remittent,  and  typhus  fevers.  This  he  did  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  and  in  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  (Almshouse).  His 
papers  are  contained  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences, 
Feb.  1835;  Feb.  1837;  August,  1837. 


24 

the  several  tissues  and  organs,  their  relations  and  dependence 
upon  one  another,  and  their  laws  of  operation.  Magendie,  Sir 
Charles  Bell,  and  others  had  made  new  discoveries,  which  had 
shed  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  obscure  processes  of  life,  and 
materially  changed  the  conceptions  entertained  with  respect 
to  the  phenomena  of  disease.  Nor  was  this  all ;  the  physicists 
and  chemists,  directing  their  attention  to  the  natural  forces,  and 
to  the  chemical  changes  of  the  material  elements  of  the  body, 
had  opened  a  field  of  exploration  and  research  which  gave  a 
new  aspect  to  practical  medicine.  Of  what  avail  were  these 
to  the  student  of  medicine?  They  were  as  a  dead  letter  for 
want  of  the  medium  of  acquirement  and  comprehension. 
We  had  no  comprehensive  text-books  then,  as  now,  in  every 
department  of  medical  science.  We  were  dependent  upon  our 
lecturers  alone  for  leading  us  into  the  right  paths  of  study  and 
reflection.  The  attempt  of  Dr.  Jackson  was  to  co-ordinate 
all  the  materials  at  his  command  that  bore  upon  the  subject  for 
the  instruction  of  his  pupils,  to  lay  a  foundation  for  their  subse- 
quent progress  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  when,  after 
a  few  years  of  experience  in  teaching,  he  printed  his  lectures, 
he  did  a  good  work  in  the  cause  of  educational  advancement. 
Students  felt  this,  although  mature  practitioners  were  annoyed 
and  perplexed  at  the  "jargon  of  the  schools"  which  has  since 
become  a  living  nomenclature. 

The  work  of  Dr.  Jackson  performed  its  mission :  it  was  an 
elementary  book  of  general  scope,  and  when  scores  of  laborious 
systematic  compilers  had  spread  their  productions  broadcast, 
and  the  student  was  no  longer  at  a  loss  for  condensed  sources 
of  knowledge,  the  necessity  of  revising  and  continuing  it  no 
longer  existed.  From  the  advance  of  science,  to  have  revised 
this  work  would  have  been  to  rewrite  it,  and  he  permitted  it 
to  be  superseded. 

There  is  one  point  on  which  I  would  desire  to  fix  attention. 
The  fact  of  reflex  action  existing  as  a  power  in  the  structure 
of  the  nervous  system,  and  the  demonstration  of  its  manifes- 
tations, being  due  to  Marshall  Hall,  of  England,  to  Mliller, 
of  Germany,  and  to  our  own  countryman  Campbell,  are  well 
known  to  the  profession ;  yet  it  is  satisfactory  to  present  an 
evidence  of  how  far  an  elementary  work  of*  1832  recognized 


25 

this  physiological  principle.  After  giving  the  phenomena  upon 
which  the  evidence  is  based,  Dr.  Jackson  remarks:  "In  these 
examples  is  manifested  an  excitement  transmitted  by  nervous 
communication  from  one  organ  in  which  it  is  developed  to 
another  organ  to  which  it  is  transported — to  which  it  is  im- 
parted. It  may  then  be  regarded  as  a  positive  fact  that  the 
nervous  tissue  possesses,  as  a  functional  capticity,  the  power  of 
transmission,  a  species  of  radiation,  by  the  action  of  which  an 
impression,  a  stimulation,  a  mode  of  activity  imparted  to  a 
tissue  or  an  organ  is  communicated  to  distant  organs." 

"An  irritation  or  stimulation,  the  excitation  of  the  organic 
actions,  awakens  the  activity  of  the  transmitting  faculty  of  the 
nervous  tissue  and  is  conveyed  and  repeated  in  the  nervous 
centres,  disturbing  their  mode  of  existence,  and  consequently 
through  them  is  reflected  into  other  organs  or  tissues  with  which 
these  centres  are  in  communication.  This  fact  is  displayed  in 
convulsions,  which  may  be  induced  in  highly  sensitive  indi- 
viduals by  excessive  tickling."  Here,  then,  is  the  expression, 
though  in  general  terms,  of  an  association  between  the  organs 
through  the  medium  of  the  reflex  capabilities,  which,  in  expla- 
nation of  the  energies  and  sj^mpathies,  has  been  experimen- 
tally illustrated  and  defined  with  precision  by  the  researches 
of  Hall,  Miiller  and  Bernard,  of  Schiff  and  Brown-Sdquard, 
and  their  co-laborers.^ 

The  year  1832  was  another  remarkable  one  in  the  medical 
annals  of  Philadelphia,  and  indeed  it  may  be  stated  of  this 
continent  and  of  Europe.  For  several  years  previously 
Asiatic  cholera  had  been  pursuing  a  steady  and  fatal  course 
from  east  to  west  over  the  fair  and  populous  countries  of  the 
globe.     Early  in  1831   it  had  prevailed  in  Eastern  Europe, 

'  With  respect  to  tlie  phenomenon  of  reflex  action  noticed  by  Marshall 
Hall  in  the  tail  of  an  eel,  when  separated  from  the  body,  that  writer  says  : 
"  I  soon  found  similar  observations  had  been  recorded  bj''  various  pliysio- 
logical  writers,  Redi,  Whytt,  Prochaska,  Mr.  Mayo,  etc.  But  I  observed 
that  in  their  hands  they  had  remained  useless  and  sterile,  having  led  to  no 
conclusions,  having  neither  been  traced  backwards  to  any  phj^siological 
principle  of  action,  nor  forward  to  any  function  of  the  animal  economy.  I 
conceived  it  impossible  that  any  such  phenomenon  should  exist  in  nature 
without  such  connections,  and  I  resolved  to  pursue  the  subject."  First 
Memoir  read  before  the  Royal  Society,  1833.     Second  Memoir  in  1837. 


26 

and,  slowly  progressing,  by  the  commencement  of  the  follow- 
ing year  it  had  included  France  and  England  in  its  stretch, 
and  awakened  with  the  people  of  America  anxious  forebodings 
of  its  invasion.  Here,  the  public  mind  was  fully  aroused 
to  the  threatened  danger,  and  in  April  a  communication  was 
addressed  by  the  Board  of  Health  to  the  Philadelphia  Medical 
Society,  recommending  the  appointment  of  a  committee  "to 
institute  an  examination  into  all  the  facts  in  relation  to  the 
epidemic  cholera,  and  to  report  in  detail  the  result  of  their 
investigation,  for  the  benefit  and  satisfaction  of  the  unpro- 
fessional as  well  as  the  medical  part  of  the  community."  In 
accordance  with  this  request  a  committee  was  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Drs.  Condie,  Emerson,  Hays,  Jackson,  Bond,  Horner, 
and  Huston.  The  report  which  was  submitted  by  these  gentle- 
men was  deemed  so  valuable  that  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed 
and  extensively  circulated.  But  the  action  of  the  authorities 
did  not  stop  here.  In  anticipation  of  a  visitation  of  the  disease, 
which  had  now  reached  the  American  continent,  a  Sanitary 
Board  of  Councils  had  been  appointed,  which,  on  June  22d, 
18B2,  passed  the  following  resolution :  "  Eesolved,  that  it  is 
expedient  that  three  physicians  of  eminence  be  appointed  to 
proceed  forthwith  to  Montreal  or  Quebec  or  both,  at  their  dis- 
cretion, to  ascertain  the  true  nature  of  the  disease  prevailing 
there,  and  to  obtain  such  further  information  in  relation 
thereto  as  they  may  deem  necessary,  and  to  make  their  com- 
munication as  early  as  practicable  to  the  Board." 

"  The  Board  appointed  Samuel  Jackson,  Charles  D.  Meigs, 
and  Eichard  Harlan." 

The  commission  proceeded  immediately  to  the  perform- 
ance of  their  delegated  duty.  They  visited  Montreal  and 
thoroughly  investigated  all  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  outbreak  of  the  disease  in  that  locality.  They  designated 
the  disease  as  "  malignant  cholera,"  and  observed  its  phases 
and  their  peculiar  phenomena.  The  information  collected  by 
them  was  embodied  in  a  report  which  bears  the  date  of  July 
8th,  1832.  It  was  none  too  early  for  its  beneficial  influence, 
for  the  pest  had  already  reached  New  York,  and  in  the  closing 
period  of  the  month  began  to  desolate  this  city. 

In  the  fierce  encounter  with  this  new  invader  of  the  peace 


27 

and  prosperity  of  tlieir  fellow-citizens  the  members  of  the 
medical  profession  evinced  their  courage  and  endurance ;  the 
part  enacted  by  them  constitutes  the  story  that  has  been  told 
by  the  historians  of  the  period.  The  school-houses  and  places 
that  could  be  found  suitable  in  convenient  portions  of  the  city 
were  converted  into  hospitals,  under  the  charge  of  the  leading 
prominent  physicians,  while  their  younger  colleagues  shared 
in  the  care,  the  fatigue,  and  watching  entailed  upon  them. 
Each  of  the  members  of  the  commission  referred  to  had  a 
position  in  chief  in  connection  with  these  establishments,  and, 
as  the  services  rendered  were  gratuitous,  received,  with  others, 
as  a  token  of  gratitude  and  of  commemoration  from  the  city, 
a  silver  pitcher,  on  which  was  engraved  a  fit  record  of  the 
purpose  of  the  donation  and  of  the  occasion  of  its  bestowal. 

Dr.  Jackson  had  charge  of  City  Cholera  Hospital  No.  5. 
He  published  two  elaborate  papers  on  the  subject  of  Malignant 
Cholera,  in  the  February  and  May  numbers  of  the  "American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences"  for  1833.  They  are  of  a 
practical  character  as  regards  the  nature  of  the  disease,  and 
its  pathology  and  treatment,  and  illustrated  by  the  report  of 
thirty-three  cases. 

In  1835  changes  were  made  in  the  organization  of  the  Uni- 
versity. The  chair  of  Materia  Medica  having  been  vacated, 
and  a  new  Professor  elected  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Wood,  it 
was  deemed  expedient  as  well  as  just  that  the  chair  of  Insti- 
tutes should  be  re-established,  and  that  branch  again  be  placed 
on  an  independent  footing.  This  was  due  to  Dr.  Jackson,  who 
had  made  his  record  while  assistant  lecturer ;  and  now  the  way 
was  clear  before  him  for  the  enlarged  display  of  his  eminent 
abilities,  and  for  the  increase  of  his  popularity  and  usefulness. 

Science  and  knowledge  cannot  be  stationary ;  no  matter  how 
stagnant  the  sources  may  become  at  certain  periods,  choked 
as  it  were  by  supine  apathy,  or  the  influence  of  dogmatic  au- 
thority, there  are  latent  natural  powers  always  in  existence 
which  must  sooner  or  later  be  put  in  operation  to  restore  the 
purity  and  freshness  of  the  current.  This  has  been  the  case 
in  medicine.  At  the  termination  of  the  last  century,  experi- 
mental investigation  was  at  a  stand ;  the  authority  of  Cullen 
had  superseded  that  of  Boerhaave,  and  vital  solidism  had  uui- 


28 

versally  been  accepted  in  place  of  the  mechanical  philosophy. 
But  a  new  era  was  at  hand,  for  John  Hunter  had  not  ex- 
hausted or  even  gone  to  the  depths  of  experimental  truth  ;  by 
Bichat  and  Nysten  life  was  exhibited  from  new  stand-points; 
and  then  came  forth  those  brilliant  revelations  that  have  placed 
the  name  of  Magendie  among  the  leaders  in  physiological 
science.  The  humoral  system  had  assumed  a  new  and  more 
rational  aspect  under  the  moulding  hand  of  expert  chemists. 

When  Dr.  Jackson  entered  upon  the  functions  of  his  chair, 
physiological  science  had  so  far  advanced  as  to  render  the  ex- 
planation of  the  connection  between  the  organs  by  unmeaning 
sympathy  no  longer  tolerated.  The  direct  agents  of  commu- 
nication between  them  had  been  made  so  clear  and  demon- 
strable as  to  command  conviction,  while  the  direct  influence 
of  agents  upon  the  animal  economy,  by  their  absorption,  so 
long  denied,  was  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  cavil ;  and 
further,  microscopic  research  was  shedding  anew  its  wonderful 
disclosures,  not  only  as  regards  healthy  structural  formation  of 
the  tissues,  but  as  to  their  pathological  metamorphoses.^  The 
business  of  the  Professor  of  the  Institutes  was  to  gather  up, 
from  all  available  resources,  everything  that  elucidated  the 
nature  of  life-actions  of  the  organism ;  to  search  into  the  laws 
that  governed  them,  and  then  to  place  a  distinct  account  of 
the  facts  and  principles  he  had  gleaned  before  his  pupils.  As 
year  upon  year  rolled  by,  this  duty  he  continued  faithfully 
and  eloquently  to  fulfil,  and  never  fell  behind  the  knowledge 
which  the  fertile  spirit  of  inquiry  was  constantly  imparting. 

A  feature  that  was  prominent  in  Dr.  Jackson's  mental  con- 
stitution was  openness  to  conviction ;  he  was  not  permanently 
wedded  to  any  preconceived  opinion  or  hypothesis,  for  he  was 
willing  to  modify  and  even  change  his  views  in  accordance 
with  discovery.  In  the  early  enunciation  of  his  ideas  upon 
medicine,  it  is  evident  his  bias  was  towards  the  vitalistic  doc- 

'  In  a  communication  entitled  "Thoughts  on  Sympathy,  in  a  Letter 
from  Charles  Caldwell,  M.D.,  to  N.  Chapman,  M.D.,"  in  the  third  volume 
of  Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  the  ex- 
periments and  their  results  upon  absorption  then  in  progress  were  stig- 
matized as  "efforts  to  reinundate  the  world  with  the  foul  tide  of  humoral 
doctrines," 


29 

trine;  but,  as  facts  accumulated  and  thought  expanded  under 
the  declarations  of  the  physicists  and  chemists,  he  found  that 
exclusiveness  did  not  comport  with  trutli,  and  he  fully  recog- 
nized the  value  of  their  labors.  Let  me  elucidate  by  reference 
to  the  "  correlation  of  forces." 

The  hypothesis  that  life  actions  are  intimately  associated 
with  and  dependent  upon  physical  forces,  although  traceable 
through  bygone  times  of  medical  history,  has  received  new 
importance  from  the  experiments  of  physical  explorers  with- 
respect  to  the  connection  between  the  forces  of  nature  them- 
selves. These  forces  are  everywhere  in  operation,  and  con- 
stitute the  moving  powers  of  inorganic  as  well  as  of  or- 
ganic matter.  The  identity  of  these  forces,  or,  in  other  words, 
their  mutual  conversion,  has  been  propounded,  and  evidence 
adduced  to  sustain  the  supposition  of  the  production  of  one 
through  the  instrumentality  of  another.  In  this  line  of  in- 
quiry and  speculation,  Biot,  Arago,  Herschel,  Faraday,  Matte- 
ucci,  and  Grove  have  been  distinguished.  The  extension  of 
the  same  mode  of  resolving  movements  has  been  ingeniously 
applied  to  the  organic  world.  In  1845  Mayer,  of  Hilbron,  pub- 
lished his  paper,  in  Germany,  upon  the  correlation  and  iden- 
tity of  physical  and  vital  forces ;  and  in  1850  the  subject  was 
ably  discussed  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  a  communication  to  the 
Eoyal  Society  of  London,  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  as  early 
as  1821  a  paper  on  this  subject  was  published  in  this  country 
by  the  late  Dr.  Godman,  entitled  "  Some  observations  on  the 
propriety  of  explaining  the  actions  of  the  animal  economy  by 
the  assistance  of  the  physical  sciences ;"  to  the  correlation  of 
forces,  however,  no  allusion  is  made. 

In  an  introductory  lecture  published  in  1837,  Dr.  Jackson 
thus  expresses  himself:  "All  the  phenomena  of  organization, 
physiological  or  pathological,  are  thus  referable,  like  all  other 
phenomena  of  nature,  to  a  small  category  of  general  laws. 
Physical  phenomena,  according  to  the  class  they  belong  to, 
are  referred  to  a  few  simple  laws,  as  of  gravity,  caloric,  of 
affinity,  of  galvanism,  of  electricity,  of  magnetism,  alio/ which 
it  can  now  he  scarcely  doubted,  are  themselves  hut  modifications  of 
one  great  lata  of  force.  The  force  producing  physiological  or 
organic  phenomena  may  be  no  more  than  a  modification  of 


30 

tlie  same  ruling  power  displaying  its  activity  in  organized 
matter ;  strong  analogies  could  be  advanced  to  sustain  this 
view." 

In  a  subsequent  lecture  (1851)  this  subject  is  discussed  by 
him  in  extenso.  In  this  he  draws  the  distinction  between 
pure  life  force  and  the  physical  forces,  and  maintains  that  the 
special  character  of  organic  or  "  radical  force  of  life"  is  mo- 
dality, or  the  power  of  creating  organic  forms,  tlie  instruments 
and  mechanism  of  life.  "  It  possesses  none  of  the  attributes 
of  the  physical  forces  in  its  actions  and  influences.  It  has 
no  identity  with  them,  yet  there  is  undoubted  correlation." 
"  Germ  force  and  organic  force  are  identical."  He  dissents  from 
the  views  expressed  by  Dr.  Carpenter  in  his  admirably 
suggestive  discussion  of  life  forces,  that  "just  as  beat,  ligbt, 
chemical  afl&nity,  etc.,  are  transformable  into  vital  force,  so  is 
vital  force  capable  of  manifesting  itself  in  the  production  of 
light,  heat,  chemical  afl&nity  or  mechanical  motion."  Dr.  Jack- 
son maintained  the  separate  and  independent  existence  of  a  vital 
force,  operating  on  and  obeying  the  influences  of  the  physical, 
but  not  identical  with  or  convertible  into  them ;  with  him  the 
dependence  of  life  force  upon  physical  forces,  to  maintain  its 
existence,  and  to  secure  the  metamorphic  changes  connected 
with  typical  permanency  and  evolution  of  organic  structure, 
constitutes  the  correlation. 

In  addition  to  membership  in  the  societies  that  have  been 
referred  to,  Dr.  Jackson  was  also  a  member  of  the  College  of 
Physicians,  and  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society.  In 
1836  the  "Academic  Eoyale  de  M^decine"  of  France  conferred 
on  him  the  honor  of  corresponding  membership. 

In  1863  Dr.  Jackson  resigned  his  professorship,  after  having 
performed  its  duties  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  having  been 
connected  with  the  University  during  the  long  period  of  thirty- 
six  years.  During  the  latter  half  of  his  life  his  constitution 
was  not  robust,  nor  were  his  physical  powers  vigorous.  He 
had  for  many  years  been  the  subject  of  neuralgia,  which  sub- 
jected him  to  great  suffering,  and  ultimately  loss  of  locomo- 
tor capability  was  so  decided  as  to  become  ataxic.  But  he 
toiled  on  to  the  last  moment  of  bodily  endurance;  and  when 
only  old  age  coerced  retirement  from  active  scenes  he  with- 


31 

drew  entirely  from  tbem.  In  the  latter  epoch  of  his  life  the 
maxim  of  Cicero  appears  to  have  been  adopted  by  him.  "  Pug- 
nandum  tanquam  contra  morbum,  sic  contra  senectutem."  His 
last  medical  communication  was  written  in  1870.  He  died 
April  4th,  1872,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years, 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  sketch  the  career  of  one  who, 
while  engaged  in  the  great  drama  of  this  world's  concerns, 
played  a  conspicuous  part.  His  memory  should  be  cherished 
not  solely  for  his  effective  co-operation  in  the  work  of  medical 
education,  and  his  hearty  sympathy  with  the  scientific  impulse 
of  the  time,  but  for  his  good  deeds,  and  for  his  whole-souled 
devotion  to  the  claims  inseparable  from  humanity.  "With  the 
graduates  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  knew  his 
worth  and  loved  his  virtues,  there  must  remain  the  tenderest 
recollections  of  their  preceptor  and  their  friend. 


PAPERS  PUBLISHED  BY  DR.  JACKSON. 

An  Account  of  tlie  Yellow  or  Malignant  Fever  wliicli  appeared  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1820,  with  some  Obser- 
vations on  that  Disease.  By  Samuel  Jackson,  M.D.,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Health.  Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences, 
vol.  i.  No.  2,  vol.  ii.  Nos.  1  and  2,  1820-21,  three  papers. 

On  the  Condition  of  the  Medicines  of  the  United  States,  and  the  means 
of  their  reform.  An  Introductory  Lecture  delivered  in  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy.  Phil.  Journ.  of  Med.  and  Phys.  Sciences,  vol.  v. 
No.  2,  1822. 

Case  of  Pulmonary  Disease  attended  with  some  anomalous  Symptoms, 
ibid.,  vol.  7.     1823. 

Case  of  Effusion  into  the  Chest,  in  which  Paracentesis  was  performed, 
ibid..  New  Series,  vol.  1,  1825. 

On  Vitality  and  Vital  Forces,  ibid.,  vol.  13,  1826. 

The  Doctrine  of  Irritation,  ibid.,  vol.  13,  1826. 

Laws  of  Irritation,  a  continuation  of  the  preceding,  ibid.,  vol.  10,  iv. 
1827. 

On  James's  Fever  Powder.  Journal  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy,  May,  1826. 

Cases  of  Nervous  Irritation  exhibiting  the  efflcacy  of  cold  as  a  remedy. 
North  American  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  vol.  2.     October,  1826. 

Statement  of  the  Effects  of  Swaim's  Panacea,  appended  to  a  Report  of 
the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society.  North  American  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ., 
vol.  5,  Jan.  1828. 

Clinical  Reports  of  Cases  treated  in  the  Infirmary  of  the  Almshouse  of 
the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia.  American  Journal  of  Med.  Sci.,  vol. 
i.,  Nov.  1827. 

Case  of  Gastro-Meningeal  Irritation,  caused  by  Metastasis,  ibid. ,  May, 
1828. 

Case  of  Amnesia,  ibid.,  Feb.  1829. 

Clinical  Reports  of  Cases  treated  in  the  Infirmary  of  the  Almshouse  of 
the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  ibid.,  Feb.  1829. 


UNIVERSIT  OR' 


\R' 


Case  of  Tetanus.  Respiration  performed  by  one  lung,  etc.,  ibid., 
Feb.  1829. 

Cases  of  Cynanclie  Tracliealis,  ibid.,  Aug.  1829. 

On  Absorption,  ibid.,  Feb.  1830. 

On  the  Pulse  and  its  Modifications,  ibid..  May,  1830. 

Observations  on  Hematosis,  Avith  two  cases  in  which  this  function  was 
imperfectly  performed,  ibid..  May,  1830. 

On  the  Pathology  or  Abnormal  State  of  the  Circulation,  ibid.,  Aug.  1830. 

Personal  Observations  and  Experience  of  Epidemic  or  Malignant  Cliolera 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  in  1832,  ibid.,  Feb.  and  May,  1833,  two  papers. 

Case  of  Intussusception,  ibid.,  Aug.  1833. 

On  Medical  Education,  ibid.,  Feb.  1834.     An  Introductory  Lecture. 

Preface  to  Cases  of  Yellow  Fever.  By  E.  B.  Harris,  M.D.,  of  New 
Orleans,  ibid..  May,  1834. 

Case  of  Purpura  Hasmorrhagica,  ibid..  May,  1834. 

Obscure  Pericarditis,  Dilatation  of  the  Heart,  Peculiar  Species  of  Tumor 
on  the  Eight  and  Left  Ventricles  and  Left  Auricle,  CEdema  of  the  Fauces, 
Larynx,  and  Glottis,  Death  from  Suffocation,  ibid.,  Feb.  1835. 

Observations  on  Hydropliobia,  with  Cases,  in  one  of  which  Chloroform 
was  administered  with  a  favorable  result,  ibid.,  April,  1849. 

Case  in  which  a  large  quantity  of  Chloroform  was  used,  ibid.,  April, 
1849. 

On  the  Influence  upon  Health  of  the  Introduction  of  Tea  and  Coffee  in 
large  proportion  into  the  Dietary  of  Children  and  the  Laboring  Classes, 
ibid.,  July,  1849. 

Digestion  of  Fatty  IMatters  by  the  Pancreatic  Juice,  ibid.,  Oct.  1854. 

A  Discourse  commemorative  of  Nathaniel  Chapman,  M.D.,  late  Professor 
of  tlie  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  of  Clinical  Medicine  ;  delivered 
before  the  Trustees,  Medical  Faculty,  and  Students  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  October  13,  1854. 

On  the  Functions  of  the  different  Parts  of  the  Internal  Ear,  Am.  Joum. 
Med.  Sciences,  April,  185G. 

On  Starch  as  a  Product  of  the  Liver,  and  on  the  Amyloid  Degeneration 
of  the  Liver  in  Yellow  Fever,  ibid.,  vol.  34,  new  series,  Oct.  1857. 

On  Therapeutic  Applications  of  the  Solution  of  Permanganate  of  Potash 
and  Ozone,  ibid.,  vol.  49,  Jan.  18G4,  N.  S. 

On  the  Uses  of  Sugar  and  Lactic  Acid  on  the  economy,  ibid.,  vol.  49, 
April,  18G5. 

Cases  of  Inflammation  occurring  under  Peculiar  Conditions,  with  some 
Thoughts  and  Reflections  on  the  Nature,  Constitution,  and  Purposes  of  this 
organic  process  in  the  Animal  Organism,  ibid.,  vol.  55,  Jan.  18G8. 

Case  of  Derangement  limited  to  a  single  moral  sentiment,  occurring 
periodically,  that  sentiment  being  in  a  perfectly  normal  condition  during 
the  intervals,  ibid.,  vol.  55,  April,  18G8. 

On  Consciousness  and  Cases  of  so-called  Double  Consciousness,  ibid., 
vol.  5G,  Jan.  1869. 

A  Rare  Disease  of  the  Joints,  ibid.,  vol.  GO,  July,  1870. 


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